Dr Bashi Ahmed, GPA Swan Hill
Home : Anaesthetics

Anaesthetics

There are approximately 120 General Practitioner Anaesthetists (GPAs) in rural Victoria and they are an essential component of the provision of procedural medicine to rural communities.

Who are they?

They are the sole providers of anaesthetic services in many rural and remote towns in Australia and are essential for a satisfactory standard of medical care in these communities. These doctors are usually responsible for providing a 24 hour, 7 day a week anaesthetic cover at their local hospital and provide anaesthesia for regular and selected emergency surgery, Emergency Dept cover and obstetric services.

Without the provision of these anaesthetic services many of these rural and remote towns would see their local hospital's services downgraded and for some localities this hospitals' eventual closure.

What do GPAs do?

A typical day for a GPA might include a regular surgical list in the morning, a labour ward epidural during the afternoon clinic and a call to the Emergency Dept at night for severe croup in an infant or resuscitation of MCA victims prior to transfer to a larger centre.

GPA training

In previous years many GPAs have obtained a Diploma of Anaesthetics (DA) in the UK prior to returning and practising in rural Australia however this qualification is no longer available. Currently in Australia the path to GPA training may be either through the RACGP or ACRRM and further information is available at www.racgp.org.au or www.acrrm.org.au. Ongoing accreditation is provided by the Joint Consultative Council of Anaesthesia (JCCA), a tripartite committee consisting of the RACGP, ACRRM and the Australian and New Zealand Society of Anaesthetists (ANZCA). Also equivalent anaesthetic training to the pathways mentioned may be considered for accreditation by the JCCA.

The Australian Society of Anaesthetists (ASA) supports the RDAV and GPAs and recognizes the essential service they provide to rural communities. GPAs have their own webpage on the ASA site on www.asa.org.au go to "News and Issues".

Issues

A particular issue with some GPAs is the reduction in their regular list numbers such that they are at risk of not performing the necessary minimum cases per year to maintain anaesthetic competence. These list reductions may occur for a variety of reasons but where the cause is remedial and where the ASA can assist with its resolution, then the particular GPA should feel free to contact this organization for support (see the ASA website for contact details).